


Darker Edges

by Val_Creative



Series: New Fate [1]
Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: Alternate Canon, Blood, Canon-Typical Violence, Comfort/Angst, Early Work, F/M, Flirting, Friends to Lovers, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Past Rape/Non-con, Romance, Sexual Content, Sexual Fantasy, Slow Burn, Suicide Attempt, Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-18
Updated: 2016-06-24
Packaged: 2018-06-09 07:51:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 20,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6896470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Val_Creative/pseuds/Val_Creative
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Another story for the Raven and Robin fans. Raven has to stop her two enemies...and herself. Robin notices that she's acting freakier then usual. Is there a explanation for everything? What's going on between the birds? [Set after Birthmark.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> (WARNING: THIS IS AN OLD ASS FIC back from 2004 or 2005. I started writing this around 14-15 years old??? That has to be right. Anyway, it's riddled with mistakes, I'm sure - but I archive everything on AO3 from my other writing platforms. Hopefully I see some FFN fans wandering around and maybe a few people will be interested reading!! ♥)
> 
> As said in summary, this is set after Birthmark but pretty much ignores The Prophecy epi. But still follows The End(s).

*

Solitude. She savored the feeling of her own company as the blackness of her room greeted her opened lids. Nothing but the darkness... matching her soul... if perhaps such a thing existed within her.

A knock came from the opposite side of the bedroom.

Raven cast one violet eye to her left, and muttered, "You have five seconds to state your business- if you're Beast Boy, prepared to be toast."

"It's Robin."

Her eyelids trembled as they close. Slightly confused on why her breathing quickened, Raven said in her monotone voice, "What do you want?"

"Well, I... I was wondering..."

He was clearing his throat. Time to play smooth leader.

"Actually, we- the team, I mean- were wondering if you'd like to come out with us tonight. We were thinking of going dancing in Jump City and than having dinner. Starfire-"

She responded mildly with a " _I don't dance_."

"C'mon, Raven. You've been held up in your room for weeks. The last time I remember you doing that was because of Malchior..."

"Robin, I told you already that I'm not going. Go away before I knock you several centuries out of your way."

There was only eerie silence at this but she knew that Robin hadn't left. She could still feel his presence hovering by her steel door. The beeping of buttons echoed through her hollowed space. Someone pressing a code. Her head snapped up.

_'He wouldn't dare.'_

The _beep-beep-beep_ continued and Raven's eyes widened a little further.

The bastard. The entire and complete bastard. What nerve could possibly possess him to break into the shelter of her room? Her room was sacred. Her _own_. No one else's. No one had permission on any account to enter HERE of all places.

(She hoped he enjoyed waking up without any arms.)

_'Azarath…Metrion…Zinthos… focus, Raven… Azarath…Metrion…..'_

The steel-heavy door slid open and Robin stood in her doorway.

She climbed off her bed and clenched her fists, several of the nearby books glowing a black color.

"What in the hells do you think you're doing?"

His masked eyes stared directly at her. He said nothing.

"I wish you would talk to me about whatever is bothering you. It's written all over your face, Raven." She was momentarily startled by this statement. Raven had been meditating all these weeks... _how_ could she be showing emotion? It was impossible.

Robin frowned, creating a crease in his forehead. "You don't trust me enough, do you? Was it something with Slade? You never really told us what happened to you that night."

She found her voice. "... I don't have to explain myself to you."

"Raven, talk to me. We could figure it out together."

Her lip curled. " _Right_. I already have 'figured it out', and believe me, you wouldn't want to know the entirety of it. Once you know, you can't go back." He crossed his long arms at her stubbornly. "I'm going to have to hurt you for coming into my room, you realize that, right?"

He actually smirked. "Technically, I never set a foot on the carpet. I only opened the door."

Raven mentally sighed.

_'Damn it all.'_

"I'll tell Star to find an outfit," he said, before turning away from the bedroom entrance.

She was very tempted to lift her desk and throw it at the back of his head. Instead she returned to her bed and floated gently above it.

_'stupid boy... Zinthos…Azarath…Metrion…Zinthos…'_

*


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Warnings for dubiously consent kissing and slut-shaming language.)

*

"Friend Raven. Are you in there?"

It had been fifteen minutes since Robin had last talked to her. She half hoped he had given up on recruiting her for the group's night out.

"Starfire, I'm not going. I told our soon-to-be-doomed leader that."

"Oh but you must! We will experience the beating of the music and the 'flirtation' of the Earth humans when they talk to us! Then we will eat many unique foods of Happiness-!"

Raven said patiently, "I need to meditate. Let me be."

"Please, Friend Raven? I was very much looking forward to dancing with you!"

This was useless. Why wouldn't she go away? What would she have to do - _kill her?_ The intruding, darkened thought brought a tiny shiver down her spine and Raven plopped onto her bed from her floating position, uncurling her legs and pulling her knees to her chest. _No. Don't._

Oh hell, what could it hurt? It was only one night.

"... Fine, you can come in."

A high-pitched squealing was her answer as the green-eyed alien burst through the open door and stopped when she looked at Raven.

"Friend, why are you in a ball?" Raven realized that she was still clutching her knees to her chest and stood up gracefully, her cloak encasing her body. Starfire grinned. "See what I have for you!" she said excitably.

With a wild gesture, Starfire held up two pieces of clothing. A see-through emerald tank top was clasped in her left hand. Raven eyed it disapprovingly. There was also matching tight leggings with a short skirt to cover any intimate areas. A little _less_ scandalous. She asked drearily, "That's all you have?"

"I have much pink if that's what you prefer, Friend Raven."

Raven cringed. "This is fine."

*

Raven didn't want to look in a mirror. She didn't want to know how utterly ridiculous she looked.

_'Leave it to Starfire to accidentally dress me up like a pseudo-hooker.'_

For her own sake, she slipped a black camisole under the green top, even though her chest now pressed uncomfortably against the material. Should have known... Starfire had a smaller chest than her. Raven absently smoothed the cotton skirt, the edge barely covering her ass. _This was just great._

Before she left the comfort of her room, Raven wrapped herself tightly in her heavy, indigo cloak.

Cyborg and Robin were already in the front room, lodging with soda cans in their hands, and watching the blinding television screen to some mindless program playing. She could have sworn that she saw their brains slowly begin to ooze out of their ears.

"You two look snazzy," she said sarcastically.

They jumped up when they heard her. Cyborg was wearing something resembling a track suit. Robin, on the other hand, wore a black hoodie and jeans. It vaguely interested and yet disturbed her to see him in dark street clothes. The only thing that gave him away was the mask. She never expected him to take it off; he wouldn't do it for the world.

"Yo Dark Girl, I thought Star gave you an outfit," Cyborg said.

"I like my cloak," came her dull response.

"You're not leaving with it. You're not hiding tonight."

From behind her in tiger form, Beast Boy leaped at her back and grabbed her cloak, flipping it over her head so that it flew behind him like a curtain. He looked up at her with the cloak in his mouth and turned back into human form, gaping. The rest of the male occupants followed, with Cyborg closed his mouth after a moment.

"Dear Friend Raven, you look beautiful!" Starfire snuck up behind her to exclaim this and hugged her around the waist, hard enough to cause the poor girl to gasp for stolen breath.

"Star, you gota let her go before she faints from the lack of oxygen."

Beast Boy pulled the pink-clothed alien girl back and smiled at Raven. "Wow, Rae," he said. "You look… _hot_."

Her violet eyes narrowed and her hands glowed black.

"You'll regret that remark later," she muttered.

Beast Boy eeped mouse-like and scurried off before she could do anything. She looked at the rest of the Titans humorlessly.

Robin shrugged, a hand slipping into his jean pocket. "You look nice." Raven gazed back at him, grim and defeated. With just a hint of humiliation. He walked over to her and smirked, but it was kinder. "Don't look so glum, we all are going to have fun tonight," he said encouragingly.

Cyborg pumped a fist in the air. "Yeah, babes here we come!" Beast Boy joined in obnoxiously and they high-fived each other.

She needed tea. And a mallet.

*

The flashing lights and loud music made her head ache something terrible. Did people actually enjoy this? Raven entered the building that smelled like perspiration and cheap perfume. Bodies pressed against each other seductively and they chewed on each other's neck like beasts...

Eyeing her environment sordidly, she noticed Robin behind her, watching her curiously. To his amusement, she winced from the direct attention.

"Stop staring at me, Robin."

He chuckled, moving past her to take Starfire's hand, and pulled her into the pulsing crowd. Cyborg and Beast Boy disappeared somewhere too.

A new song picked up, the techno beat thumping more violently throughout the club, and the lights flashing brighter with a rainbow of colors. Strobes blinked in her face and she sank into the dark corners. Several drunken adults passed her, reeking of weed, and then to her surprise, someone like herself sulking against the wall. The person had been sneering at everyone until a man in a white shirt took her hand.

By the way her aura changed, Raven knew that she was glad to see him. A real smile appeared on the girl's face and they danced their way out of sight.

A few songs had passed before she got bored. Many couples had left the dance floor and there was space to move. She didn't see any of her friends.

_'Perfect time to leave...'_

But her body was strangely itching to follow the beat of the music and she let herself get lost to it, not needing to worry about her emotions. Her mind relaxed. She was spellbound in a tide of figures and shadows, her hips rocking, twisting, and her arms moving freely. Her hand went through her short indigo hair; occasionally, she felt someone brush against her. _Non-threatening_. Beads of sweat grew on her face and trickled down her back. Nothing could break her from this haze of confusion and melody.

Her arm slid across her stomach and settled on her hip where a hand gently rested upon it.

_A hand...?_

Raven spun around to see Robin. She blinked, regaining an unruffled composure. "... You shouldn't sneak up on people," she said. "That's how accidents happen."

"I didn't want interrupt you. You looked really into it."

She made a long face and started pushing through the dancing mass. His hand had not let hers go. Robin asked, lighthearted, "One dance?"

"Not on your life, Bird-Boy."

But he spun her around and she found herself pressing her small hands against his surprisingly hard chest, his large hands on her shoulders in an semi-embrace. Hands that drew blood and struck with ferocity... they held her with such a contrast of care.

"Won't your girlfriend miss you?"

"... _really_ , Raven?" He scoffed. "Star wouldn't care about that. I was only asking for a dance. "

Raven snapped, her eyes flashing red momentarily, " _Back off_."

"What do you take me for, Raven? I just want you to enjoy being out here with your friends."

"I don't need you telling me when I _should_ be enjoying myself. I don't enjoy anything because I _don't_ feel."

"Really? Not even this?" He countered daringly, tilting his head down. Robin's masked eyes met her violet ones before his lips easily captured hers in a tender kiss.

The shot glasses on the bar table exploded and the drunken figures jumped away. Nearby, the two people who were kissing did so with such an intense force that even others kept a note to stay a few feet away. The air around them suffocating and pulsing with _emotions_.

She knew this was wrong. He was Robin, her leader, he had _someone_ , and she was a monster who deserved no love or this. So why couldn't she stop herself? Stop herself now? Why was there a tingling going up and down her body, from her head to feet?

Raven had not moved from the embrace, but did not welcome it either. His warm lips left her cold ones. He gazed at her, but she could not tell what his eyes were saying. If only that mask was gone...

His unanswered question still hung in the air between them.

"Nope. Not a thing," she said, dully, before grasping the front of Robin's hoodie and kissing him full on the mouth.

*


	3. Chapter 3

*

Happiness was jumping in place, Anger was sulking on a boulder, someone in the back was licking her lips, Intelligence was shaking her head in amused disapproval, Sorrow's tears had let up a little, Vulgarity was digging in her ear canal, Fear wasn't hiding behind Intelligence anymore, and Courage was rooting wildly about something.

Raven landed uncomfortably on the ground in Nevermore and shook her head.

_'What the hell... how did I end up here?'_

Intelligence adjusted her yellow cloak. "You left your body. It was an overload of your senses and now your mental state is here until you can get out."

"And... that would be?"

She smirked, annoyingly resembling the Boy Wonder. "Whenever."

Raven grumbled something particularly nasty under her breath and Fear squeaked meekly, now hiding behind Intelligence.

"Alright, what about my body?"

"Unfortunately, you have no control over your body. Only until you get out of Nevermore will you return to it."

Raven sighed, "... oh joy," and placed a hand on her hip, surveying the rest of her Emotions.

Happiness went over to her, bouncing on her heels. "Oh, Raven! I have never felt like this," she cried out. "This is delightful!"

Raven raised an eyebrow, coolly.

"Glad to hear it."

She peered over at the new Emotion with a silver-colored cloak. It said in a breathy voice, "That Robin… _mmm_ , what I'd do to get my hands on that boy…."

Cue a cautious, weirded out look.

Her newest Emotion smiled innocently at her, though it wasn't _innocent_ by any means. Intelligence chided, pretending to look stern, "Control yourself, Lust."

"Come on, he's _hot_. And I bet he's great in bed, too."

Raven groaned loudly. Anger snapped, "Give it a rest over there!"

Lust shrugged, leaning over to whisper hotly in Raven's ear, " _Go for it, he's a total catch. All you gotta do is ditch the bimbo_."

Sorrow wailed, "Don't talk about Starfire like that! She's my friend!"

"I didn't say she was _bad_ -looking," Lust said with a suggestive wink. Raven spun at the heel, walking down the stony path with her Emotions watching her. She picked up a rock nearby and proceeded to unceremoniously smack herself in the head.

Fear shook.

"Wh-What are you doing?" she asked lowly.

"Trying to kill myself."

*

Something warm stroked her forehead.

Yes, she was back in her body! The assault with the rock must have worked!

Raven felt the familiarity of her thin, silk sheets beneath her and opened her eyes to see Robin of all people in her room, sitting beside her... _in_ her room. She really hated it when people were _in her room_. The first words from her mouth were: "You didn't touch anything, did you?"

He looked down from gazing at her over-sized bookcase. A relieved smile spread across his face.

"You're awake."

"Obviously." She sat up and rubbed her temples as he continued sitting, just watching her. Raven asked, feeling heat rising on her neck at the attention, "What happened? I don't remember anything."

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"We, urm, we were... kissing. You, _uh_ , kissed me back... and you kinda... fainted on the floor."

She said with a mixture of sarcasm and amusement, forgetting to use her monotone, "What, my Knight in Shining Armor didn't catch me? That's a black mark on your heroic image."

"I did carry you back... once we got to the Tower," Robin said with a slight blush.

"Where is everyone?"

He ran a hand through his spiky hair. "In the front room. I think they're watching a horror movie."

"The one time they decide to do something I would agree with, I miss it. That makes sense."

Robin snickered.

"Get out of my room," she said. He frowned at her blunt statement. "I need to meditate. It's nothing personal."

Robin obeyed, getting up and going to the doorway, but turned back at the last second.

"About the whole kissing thing…"

"Never happened," Raven announced.

She really wished that she could see those eyes.

His face lowered to the floor.

_'A deep green perhaps…an aqua…'_

Looking like Robin wanted to say something else.

_'A hazel speckled with amber…'_

"Hey, Raven? Beast Boy was right about the clothes. You should wear them more often."

Raven threw a pillow at his mischievous face. Damn boys and their smart mouths.

*


	4. Chapter 4

*

Her cloak turned white overnight. She threw it on quickly and changed into new leotard, which was white as well. Her clock read about six in the morning.

_'Need… tea.'_

Raven's feet padded softly to the kitchen. She wasn't surprised to see Robin already there sitting with the paper and drinking coffee. Although he wasn't looking at her, she noticed a slight curve of a smile on his lips when she entered. As if it only appeared for her. Raven shook her head. She needed to seriously stop daydreaming.

"... - _IT'SSSSS_ TOFU MONDAY!"

Beast Boy burst in on them and ran straight into her. His elbow rammed smack into her favorite tea cup and it shattered piercingly on the floor.

He gulped nervously and shrank under her violet gaze. She serenely made the broken shards levitate to the trash can and poured herself more in another cup, letting the soothing liquid burn the back of her throat. Taking her indifferent behavior as a sign that miracles _do_ happen, he backed away and went on with his own business.

Robin flipped a page and that smile inched itself higher on his face.

Raven observed him a bit closer, pretending to take another sip of the now empty teacup. He was in costume and chewing on the inside of his cheek inattentively. A habit she found him doing whenever he was bored or thinking about a serious matter.

"Morning, Friends!"

Beast Boy screeched and dropped a plate on the floor. Robin commented without letting his eyes move off the page, "Smooth move, Beast Boy."

"Ah, shut up," he grumbled, going on his hands and knees to pick up the mess. After Robin asked him what he had been doing up so early when BB's normal time to wake up was at the very least eleven am, the other boy lowered his face to the floor, successfully hiding the dark look in his green eyes.

"I… couldn't sleep."

Starfire grinned brightly at everyone. "It is a _glorious_ morning, is it not?"

"Sure is." Raven raised in her cup in a small salute.

The Tamaranean gave a small gasp.

"Friend Raven, your cloak is white!"

"Nothing gets past you, Starfire." The empath poured herself her third helping of tea and sipped calmly. From the other side of the table, Robin made a sound like a laugh but it ended up sounding like a wheeze into one of his hands. Beast Boy, on the other hand, didn't bother to hide his laughter.

"What is so funny?"

Beast Boy chuckled. "Nothing, Star," he replied.

The alien girl sat down beside Robin, still befuddled, but happily drank her favorite yellow condiment out of the bottle. It had been a few weeks since they had gone out and Beast Boy seemed eager to do it all over again.

Starfire spoke up, "I did so enjoy the lights and the dancing!"

Beast Boy looked at Raven, but pointedly.

"As long as we don't have any weirdness like last time. Hey, Rae... you never said what happened."

She raised an eyebrow at this. Surprisingly, nothing exploded.

The alert sirens went on.

_'Saved by the villains. How ironic.'_

Robin threw down his paper, all traces of a smile leaving his face. "TITANS, GO!"

*

"NOW!"

_"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"_

A black energy field surrounded the Titans as rubble fell over their heads. Jinx cackled, leaping around them. They had been battling the Hive in different places all _damn_ day and it was steadily becoming exhausting. As Cyborg and Robin went off to fight Mammoth, Raven shielded herself from the pink sparks being sent in her direction.

With eyes glowing bright green, Starfire threw her starbolts at the pink-haired villain.

Gizmo came up behind her, fluttering like an angry bee, distracting her away from the other girl. From the corner of her eye, Raven saw Jinx make a break for it. Robin shouted in the distance towards her, " _Raven, go after her_! _Now_!"

She phased into her raven soul-self and hurled through the nearby building, gaining speed. A witchy cackle came from the opposite direction; there was an alley up ahead. Raven hovered near the mouth of the entrance when she heard it...

"Hello, Raven. Did you miss me?"

Her heart clenched in a fear that she could taste bitter in the back of her throat.

"No… not you," she breathed out.

The copper side of Slade's mask glinted in the moonlight.

"Are you frightened of me, Raven?" he asked. "You are much more powerful than me. Why should _you_ fear anything?"

She backed away, her violet hair sweeping across her face as she flew up, shutting the two buildings together to trap him. Raven knew he couldn't be stopped, that she was doomed. The terrified girl hurled across the starry sky, desperately searching for her friends when something hot like _fire_ hit her back.

With a shriek, Raven tumbled onto the street, scratching her bare knees against the gravel on impact.

Slade's voice was not too far away.

_"You cannot escape me, Raven."_

"I've said this before, and I'll say it again, I can try."

Her eyes glowed white as she threw whatever she could at the mad man, but the heat emitting from Slade's body melted it to searing red ruins. A firm punch across the face sent Raven sprawling on the ground, though it was hardly anything.

"Why do you act _so_ weak? You can beat me, Raven. You know what you will accomplish. Why can't you fight back?"

Hot tears ran down her face. She flipped onto her stomach, shielding herself as he attempted to break through her force-field. She was slipping... she was going to lose control over her powers if she didn't do something quick.

With a burst of dark energy, Slade was thrown backwards in the air.

Raven escaped into the night and didn't stop until she reached Titans Tower. She landed harshly on the rocks just below. Raven laid her head on a large smooth one, the feeling of the salty air blow in her sweating face and aching body. The sounds of the waves crashing was the only thing she heard.

Until-

_"Raven, you will kill the people you love. I will make sure of it."_

She screamed, covering her ears, "No! You can't make me!"

_"Don't worry, it will be over soon enough."_

Raven screamed louder, "Go to hell! Get away from me! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" She buried her head in her lap, gasping through the heaving sobs racking her entire body. She could hear the rocks around her blowing up, the sharp chunks remaining that dug into her exposed skin.

"Raven! Raven, are you there?"

The commotion stopped and her red-rimmed eyes looked up to see a figure swing down and perch in front of her.

Robin faltered.

"Raven, what's wrong? What happened with Jinx? Where did you go…?" His mask gave an impression of being wide-eyed. She didn't deserve for him to be looking at her like this... with concern and worry.

" _Slade_."

At the mention of his old tormentor's name, his eyebrows knitted. A grim line set on his mouth.

"Where?"

The empath shook her head, her voice soft and beaten, "I... I don't know. Robin, he's in my head… he's laughing…"

Robin couldn't help but stare. Her hair was mussed. There was blood on her hands and knees. She had been crying. (Raven doesn't cry, she never does. No one could make her cry.) He gently hugged her against him, not sure whether she'll scold him later for this, but at the same time didn't care.

She needed someone who understood this and he did.

Raven's knees pressed into his abdomen and her bowed head cradling under his chin. He absently rubbed her neck.

"We're not going to let him hurt you... He's gonna pay for what he's done."

*

 


	5. Chapter 5

*

The Titans, minus one badly shaken member, sat in the lounge. No gazes were met, but their eyes were filled with different levels of worry and fear. Cyborg was the one to speak up first, "You said you found her outside?"

A muscle in Robin's jaw twitched.

"Yes, I did."

"And she said Slade was after her, again?"

" _Yes_ , Cyborg - that's what she said."

Beast Boy spoke up angrily from the end of the couch, "Why didn't she tell us what happened _last time_ when Slade was after her?"

Robin clenched his fists.

"Because an insane mastermind is out for her blood," he grounded out. "I think she has every reason not to talk about it."

"Man, don't even defend her! She's hiding something important from us and if she's not going to talk-"

Robin got up from the couch, squaring off with the changeling. "What do you think you can do about it, Beast Boy?" he said, challenging him. "Huh?"

Starfire said with sadness on her features, coming between them, "Do not fight. We must comfort Friend Raven in her time of need."

"I agree with BB about talking with her." Cyborg then adds, "but I think Robin should do it."

"Why me?"

"You've had more experience..."

Robin whispered, turning his back to them, "With what? Talking with her _or_ dealing with Slade?" He stormed the entire way to Raven's room. Without meaning to, he stared crossly at her engraved name on the door.

Remembering the reason why he was there, his green-gloved hand rapped on cold metal.

"Raven? It's me. Open up."

Silence.

"... Please?"

With a _swooosh_ , the steel door disappeared without a second's thought and he stayed cautiously in the doorway.

To his utter surprise, a low-lit lamp shone on a desk in the corner of the large bedroom. Raven sat in a chair by it, her hands resting on her bandaged knees. He asked quietly, "How long have you been sitting there?"

"A while."

"Can you walk?"

"Yes," she responded. "It hurts."

Robin rubbed the back of his neck. "Can I come in?" he asked.

She said dully, "Door's open for a reason." As soon as he had both feet in, the steel door slammed itself shut.

"... You like your privacy."

"You can knock it off. I'm not going to tell you why Slade's after me... why my birthday is nothing to celebrate." His face darkened. Raven met his masked glance, not blinking. "But I _will_ soon. Believe me that I will, but it won't be now."

"Why? Don't you trust us?"

She turned her face away, her violet hair screening her face from view. Robin lost his patience and turned her to face him, his hands gripping the armrests. They held gazes before she told him with a long, tired sigh, "I promise I will tell you. All of you."

"Words have empty meanings."

"I know its asking much, but _trust me_."

Robin was reluctant to do so... but the memory of seeing her broken kept nagging the back of his mind.

He backed away. "You'll have to deal with the others on your own."

Raven took a hold of the sides of the chair and stood up both slowly and painfully before her knees buckled under her weight. Robin caught her as if he expected her to fall and led her to her on bed. She shifted her cloak around her body awkwardly, as if finally noticing how much of her legs were revealed. Robin went to her desk.

"Good night, Raven."

His hand reached for the switch.

" _Don't._ "

Her violet eyes flickered to the lamp, savoring its warmth and protection. She added with a hint of sheepishness, "Leave it be."

Robin knew why she didn't want the light off. It happened to him a week after Slade invaded in his head. He refused to turn off any lights when the sun set and housed under his bed for a few weeks were several, fresh flashlights. After a particularly vivid nightmare, he begged Starfire to keep him company until he fell asleep in the training room. He refused to admit what was happening then.

He went over to where Raven sat cross-legged and dropped his voice."

"You don't have to be afraid of the dark, you know." It must have been the wrong thing to say because Raven glanced menacingly at her lamp. It fizzed out noisily, along with the electricity, and then enveloped them both in dark.

She muttered stubbornly, "I'm not afraid."

Her breathing shook.

"Okay, who did that?" Cyborg roared within their hearing in Titans Tower.

Beast Boy exclaimed next, " _Come on, I was gonna beat Cy_!"

"I had you, BB. You weren't going anywhere."

Starfire's high-pitched scream pierced the night. Her voice drifted down the hallway, "What has happened?"

"A blackout, Star. I think Robin mighta said something wrong to the little lady."

"I was only twenty points _away_ \- vengeance, I demand VENGEANCE!"

"Geez, cool your jets. I'm gonna go fix this."

Cyborg's heavy footsteps passed by and out a doorway.

Robin groped for her hand in the dark and held it firmly. There wasn't anything to be seen inches from Raven's face. The fear she had been holding back sternly finally had her and she wrapped her arms around Robin's neck, scooting closer and burying her face into his shoulder.

Dignity be damned.

He calmly whispered in her ear, "Even when you can't see, I'll always find a way to reach you, okay? You have nothing to be afraid of. Slade can't hurt you when you have no fear." Robin remained where he was, hoping that Cyborg would fix the lights soon.

A dull wash of light shined through the crack under her door. Enough for them to see plainly.

Raven pulled away, blushing and grateful he could not see it.

"I'm sorry," she murmured.

"It's no problem. You're not the only one who was afraid of the dark once."

The bedroom door slid open for him and he took it as a sign to leave, throwing a mini flashlight on her coverlet. "Just in case it takes a while to get rid of."

"Robin, this-"

He finished monotonously before disappearing out of her sight, "Never happened." Robin never got to see the phantom of a smile on her face.

*


	6. Chapter 6

*

Her morning peace was interrupted by an animal-like screeching and the collision of someone else throwing themselves on top of her.

"Beast Boy, get off me before I'm forced to send you through a seven-story window."

The green boy stood up, hopping impatiently as Raven dusted herself off. "We got an invitation-!" Robin snatched it out of his hands _\- "Dude, totally not fair!" -_ and read it to himself first.

"A ball in Gotham City tonight," he announced after a moment. "Some sort of birthday party we've been invited to."

Cyborg said with his mouth full of waffle and syrup that drooled in the corners of his lips, " _Whcts knsnh_ s?"

"Mine."

The robot-man choked on his portion. Beast Boy looked scandalized. Raven asked blandly, "It's your birthday?"

"My eighteenth." Robin shrugged.

"Why hold a ball?"

Beast Boy perked up. "Who cares? Happy B-day, Robin! I would have gotten you something if I'd known it was your birthday."

"I didn't really bother to celebrate it. This is just another chance for Bruce to keep an eye on me and criticize me while inviting all of his friends and workers to brag." There was ice in his tone.

Raven said dully to him, "It would be impolite not to attend."

"Oh, we're going. And we'll have a _great_ time," he said it with a little too much force and stomped out of the front hall - Raven supposed - to go tell Starfire.

Problem was... would she have to wear a dress?

That afternoon, everyone went out shopping at the mall but she refused, insisting that she could find something instead in her dresser. Raven regretted it later when she discovered she had _nothing_. Her various leotard scattered on the floor as she dug into her tiny dresser and closet, "No… no… definitely not… no…"

Raven sighed and found herself eyeing the trunk in the corner of her closet.

... Was she that desperate?

*

The bronze lid lay open, its lock thrown carelessly aside. The spell books from the inside stacked neatly beside the trunk, gold binding gleaming. Mothballs and dust floated freely in space.

A figure stood silently in black velvet. A one-shoulder, floor length dress, trimmed with strange, intricate silver gems. A long, velvet cape started at the edge of the low back. Her curves were safely covered but not forgotten. Her boots out of sight. No jewelry except for a ring she received from Beast Boy a year back... nothing romantic about it. It just was an amethyst, and it matched.

She wore no makeup. She didn't own any. She didn't want any. Her only difference was putting her straight hair up. A few stray, violet hairs hung around her cheek and she didn't bother to touch them.

Raven looked into a mirror she 'stole' from Starfire and almost drop it.

The reflection was that of Arella.

Her mother.

She looked exactly identical… but only for a moment. Raven set down the mirror dazedly, her hand on her forehead as the room spun.

' _No… you're fine. Azarath… Metrion… Zinthos… focus…_.'

Starfire shouted cheerfully from the hall, "Raven, are you ready to leave?" The alien stepped back when the steel door disappeared. She grinned. "Friend Raven, you look magnificent. Sincerely." Starfire wore a glittering, dark blue dress and large butterfly clips in her loose, bright red hair. Raven smirked, letting the alien girl take her by the arm and drag her to the entrance.

The three other Titans were already downstairs. They all wore suits, but Raven remembered Robin's tux from the prom he was forced to go to. His gaze on her kept wandering back.

Beast Boy moved forward.

"No way dude, she's my date," he said.

He took Raven's left arm as Cyborg took her right. "No, grass stain - she's mine."

"I'll wrestle you for her."

Raven said dryly, tugging out of their grasp, "A mechanical man and a shape-shifter for my dates. I must be the luckiest half-demon in the world."

No one knew if she was joking or not but they all laughed anyway. They never could tell. Robin finally blurted out, "Your dress… it's nice."

Her hands clenched into themselves, anger surging.

"... My mother was defiled in it."

There was no reaction in her voice. She exited the Tower with her cape billowing behind her.

Eventually, they got to the ball riding in a limo. Everyone except Raven and Robin gobbled down the free food and drinks. The event was being held at huge mansion on the other side of Gotham. Raven supposed it was some rich investor's home. Despite herself, Beast Boy got to hold her arm as the Titans headed to the double doors leading into a giant, shimmering ballroom. A tall man with dark hair stepped in front of Robin, purposely blocking them out.

"You're not entering the party looking like that, are you?" he asked him.

"You know I never take my mask off."

The man flashed a brilliant smile. "It's Dick's birthday party, not Robin's. Some people here don't know you as a superhero..."

Raven felt herself bristle. _'Must be Bruce Wayne.'_

"Who are they? Friends?"

_'You know damn well who we are.'_

Robin did a quick introduction of Starfire, Cyborg, and Beast Boy who greeted him cheerfully. Bruce looked at a silent Raven. "Who is this young woman in the back?"

She crossed her arms. "Raven. You must be the millionaire we heard so much about."

"You can call me Mr. Wayne."

"A stuck-up ass like you must have enough money to call me whatever you want," she said monotonously.

Beast Boy openly gaped and Starfire placed a gloved hand over her mouth in horror. Robin let go of Starfire. "Go on without me, Titans. I'll see you inside." Everyone except Raven and Bruce went.

Robin let out a long, tired sigh and lifted his fingers to the back of his head.

"Let me do it."

His forehead creased.

"I'm not a idiot, Raven," he said. "I can take off my own mask."

"... I know."

He could see that she wasn't moving anytime soon.

Reluctantly, his hands lowered. Raven fumbled with the knot. With some difficulty, she peeled it off his face. Her eyes widened. There were dark shadows underneath Robin's eyes. The sharpest shade of blue she ever saw stared back at her, contrasting greatly with his well-hidden, dark nature.

He squinted them a moment and looked into her face as if he hadn't recognized her. She looked much more striking with clearer vision.

"Dick must stand for _Richard_."

She broke the strong tension between them with that statement. Robin said lowly, "You keep it to yourself." He snatched the mask out of her limp grasp and left walking in step with Bruce Wayne.

She could already tell that this night was going to be a long one.

*


	7. Chapter 7

*

This was no birthday party she ever seen.

Okay... so Raven was no expert on parties... but this was much too formal and too much like a richy-richy get-together of business tycoons than any celebration. Raven could see Robin from across the room, crossing and uncrossing his arms. His face may have been emotionless, but his blue eyes betrayed him.

No wonder he hid them from the world.

A glittering, worried Starfire flitted around him.

"Punch?"

Beast Boy held up a paper cup in her face and she took it without a thank you. A drop never went into her mouth.

"Robin is not happy," she said, distantly.

He scoffed.

"Ya think? This place is Dullsville, which is why I got Cyborg to bring in his amplifiers and stereo system. I snuck in a few of Robin's favorite rock and party CD's."

Raven raised an eyebrow. "You didn't," she said.

"Of course I did," Beast Boy insisted. "It's Robin's party, isn't it? Cy's hooking it up… any minute now."

As if on cue, the twinkling music notes stopped and heads glanced up placidly. After a silent moment or two, bass rattled windows and guitar solos bounced off the marble walls. Cyborg appeared beside them gleefully. " _Hell yeah_!"

He high-fived Beast Boy and they howled, dancing ridiculously to the rhythm.

Raven saw every face in her direction. At least the party stopped being _boring_. Maybe Robin would stop sulking. She had tried so hard to blend in though. It had worked, but now this…

Cyborg's metal hand grabbed her limp one and spun her around. She stood caught in the middle of the fiasco. But… she was dancing now, too. The beat changed to a faster pace. As her body rocked and swung slowly, she heard her two friends yowl at the top of their lungs- "Yeah Rae!" - "Go girl!" - " _Whooo_!"

For the first time in a long time, she heard the truest form of her laughter reach her ears.

The music stopped abruptly.

They turned to see a very angry Bruce Wayne glaring at them. "I'll ask you all kindly to leave the grounds."

Beast Boy's face twisted into outrage.

_"WHAT???"_

"Noise pollution. You three have shown an extreme amount of disrespect to everyone. You should be ashamed."

"Dude… we were just trying to have fun," Beast Boy argued, ears dropping.

"No, you were making trouble. I said I wanted you out now. Go back to your city."

She could see that everyone was staring at them like they were on display. The kind of attention she _hated_.

Raven looked at Robin who was seething, not at his old mentor, but at them. That only made her anger struggle to be let out more. A hand touched her shoulder and she looked to see a old butler staring at her calmly. Raven yanked herself out of his grasp, eyes glowing blood red.

" _Come on_ ," she said to the others with a demonic note to her voice.

Her black energy crackled around her, slamming into light fixtures nearby and with people dodging them, she fumed out of the mansion. Cyborg and Beast Boy followed behind fearfully. Once they were out in the clear, night air, Raven began yelling, "I have never been talked to like that! That... he doesn't even _know_ us and thinks he can judge anyone he likes? Robin and Starfire didn't even bother to stick up _for_ us! I should just-!"

Beast Boy waved his hands, panicking.

"Whoa! _Raven_ , calm down!"

Tendrils of black energy came out of her hands and smacked into him, throwing Beast Boy into the bushes and out of sight. Cyborg grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. "Snap out of it, Rae! You gotta snap out of it!"

The energy disappeared and the violet color of her irises.

" _Beast Boy_!"

Both Titans raced across the grounds and found him sitting by the front gates, rubbing a rather large bump on his head. Raven knelt beside him.

"I couldn't control it," she confessed. He flashed her an easygoing smile.

" _Heh_ , I guess I deserved that... I don't know why..."

"You didn't," Raven whispered, ashamed as Cyborg helped him up.

"Remind me to never get on your bad side," he muttered. "You aren't going to skewer Rob and Star, are you?"

She narrowed her eyes and said after a long, cryptic moment, "They know how to dodge heavy objects."

The boys shared a worried look.

*

Meanwhile:

Starfire winced beneath the rage that was Robin.

"What the _hell_ were they thinking?"

"Robin…"

"When I get back to the Tower, they are gonna regret ever humiliating me and the team like this!"

"I think that…"

"And Raven went along with it, too - that's what _I_ don't get!"

"Maybe we should…"

"Now he thinks that we're a bunch of kids who-"

She tapped his shoulder, saying kindly, "I do not know why, but I do not see why your mentor was so upset. I'm sure that our friends did not mean to hurt anyone."

"...? ...You're too nice, Starfire." He sighed.

She leaned down to kiss his cheek, softly. Robin chastised her, quietly, " _Star_!"

There was a bright, sunny smile on her orange face.

"I thank you, Robin. Now, would you like to dance?"

"There's no music."

She beamed. "Music is not needed."

He returned her smile, letting her enthusiasm clear his troubled mind as they waltzed. She might have been too nice at times, but she knew how to warm his heart. They were enjoying their moment together in each other's arms when Bruce Wayne cut them short. He started, "Those friends of yours-"

"I'm sorry about that, Bruce. I'll talk to them and we'll get this straightened out."

The man cracked a thin smile. "Actually, everyone loved the change of music. They all want it back. I talked to the Mayor, and he was... _intrigued_."

Robin frowned. "You've gotta be kidding me…"

"Yes, well, Alfred is bringing your friends back in and we can forget this ever happened."

Cyborg and Beast Boy barged by them, happy to be able to set up the stereo system. To Robin's relief, they flashed a thumbs up at him as the bass came back on and the formal guests started loosening up. The only thing wrong was Raven hadn't returned.

Just as he was considering going out to find her, she appeared next to the punch bowl, staring lividly at anything and everything. Her eyes laid upon him and a sour message passed on. Beast Boy came up to her. She grabbed his hand, pulling him onto the dance floor, still looking over at Robin, contemptuously.

' _Oh... Raven... two can play that game_.'

Starfire was delighted when Robin danced closer to her. Occasionally, the two took a second to glance heatedly at each other. The only person who knew them well enough to know what was going on shook his computerized head. Frankly, they exhausted Cyborg.

Raven didn't mean to use Beast Boy, especially after what happened outside. And she didn't like him romantically, but… he was there and she _really_ wanted to get on Robin's nerves. Maybe even make Robin jealous…?

She slackened.

Her eyes met the sight of the two people locking lips in a very passionate kiss. In public. The world felt numb. She thought Robin had a little more decorum than that.

All the same, Raven had sunk to the same level too...

Why did she feel so _alone_?

Raven absently swallowed, her throat dry and tight.

Beast Boy noticed that she stopped dancing and his shoulders slumped. He followed her gaze and turned back to her dumbstruck. " _Yikes_ , I'm just as shocked as you are."

*


	8. Chapter 8

*

Raven couldn't concentrate.

The girl in the dress-cape sprinted out of the open alley, winded and her bare feet smacking against the pavement.

The nighttime goers watched inquisitively as she pushed past several and continued on, before collapsing into a deserted road. The shadows of downtown Gotham City surrounded her. Her legs had no feeling. She hung onto the street pole, for fear of losing her balance and landing on her face.

Raven's violet hair came loose when she struggled to get her boots out of a newly cemented street two blocks back.

Now... she was freezing with only her exposed feet and no cloak.

With one hand still clutching the pole, Raven lifted up her end-cape and draped it around her shoulders, shivering.

She ran from the ball; like a coward, she had ran away from Beast Boy's concerned calls and the bright light of the expensive chandeliers. She was defenseless in this city of crime. Without a calm mind, her powers wouldn't work right. For the sake for her safety, Raven tried to sort out her thoughts.

Robin deliberately hurt her... or did she just _believe_ that? ... they were both acting like children.

She didn't understand why seeing Starfire and Robin kiss did this to her... it never used to bother her..... it never used to _hurt_ so badly...

Maybe her Emotions would know. Raven would have to visit Nevermore when she got home...

 _Home_.

She wondered how she was getting home with no money, in a strange town... Azar, was she smart. Where was that emotion when she needed it?... did Robin mess with her?

That kiss from the club... was that just hormones being flung around? Why did she go along with it when she didn't like Robin like that... she _couldn't_ like Robin like that... Raven he wasn't _allowed_ to like Robin like that... then, _why_ was she feeling like this?

She sank onto her knees and tilted her head forward in defeat. She needed herbal tea and her room. Meditating on a sidewalk wouldn't help her.

Raven began chanting under her breath anyway, closing her eyes and letting her eyes relax.

' _At least it couldn't..._ '

"Get up or I'll blow your goddamn brains out."

Raven opened an eye, wearily.

' _I spoke too soon.'_

A man with a black ski mask pointed a gun barrel just inches from her nose.

"Stay quiet and get up slowly." She rose to her feet without question. Coal black eyes through the mask glistened with frantic anger. "Just stay where you are, bitc-" The criminal suddenly took off in a hurry, dropping his gun in a murky puddle.

Gooseflesh crawled up over her arms as a soft, low voice drifted behind her, "It's just us, Raven. No one else."

"How did I know you were there," she said dryly, looking over her shoulder to the red-tattooed Slade.

He chuckled.

"You expected it. And you always should."

"I'm sick of you _stalking_ me. This ends now."

A beat-down truck hurled in his direction, encased with black energy as her eyes blazed white. Her powers were back. They fought but Slade was on defense. He got close enough to rip off her cape, exposing a white thigh and trapping it over her head. She broke through it. His searing, red-flamed hand tore the cloth in the stomach, her skin and bellybutton showing.

' _ENOUGH_!'

Raven threw cars, lamps, signs, tables, sewer pipes at him while screaming and _nothing_ could hurt him. He wasn't making a move.

"I am invincible, Raven," he informed her. "You can't stop me."

Heaving, she narrowed her now violet eyes.

"... Is that so?"

Raven crouched down to reach into the murky puddle and picked up the dripping gun.

"What are you doing?"

"There's always a way out," she said, impassively. She placed the barrel against the curve of her neck.

"It would take it all away. It would hurt you in some way since you obviously can't hurt me, and any way I can hurt you is a _good_ thing. The best part is my Father couldn't come through the portal and _destroy_ the people who used to love me. It's a winning situation, really."

There was a slight waver in Slade's voice. "You can't do it. You're afraid of death."

"Why would I be _afraid_? I'm more powerful than you, aren't I?"

"Think about it, Raven... there might be another way."

"No, sorry."

He came at her and she pulled the trigger without a single flinch. An empty, echoing click.

Raven pulled several more times with the same result and Slade laughed, knocking it clear out of her hand. Her black energy zapped him but he just kept _laughing_ that terrible laughter. She gripped the gun tightly in her fist and the safety clicked off.

Something _warm_ pooled on her exposed leg.

Raven looked down numbly to her left arm to see a hole in her wrist, gushing a bright liquid. She dropped the weapon.

As it clattered to the ground, she fell along with it. The red stained the velvet of her dress, making the gems shine with crimson light. Raven murmured, a haze settled over her vision, "That was... my mother's..."

"You won't die, Raven. Not when you have the Titans looking for you. I still need you to open the portal."

The outline of Slade said his farewell and disappeared into the shadows of Gotham. Only a minute, _a measly minute_ later, a pair of black boots appeared in front of her face. A glove lifted her head off the blacktop. Batman's mask shone under the moonlight.

She breathed, losing the coolness in her tone. Her head spinning from the loss of blood. "Took you... long enough."

" _RAVEN, ANSWER!_ "

Batman spoke into the communicator she had left behind, "I've got her."

' _Why couldn't they just let me die_?'

*

They thought she fell asleep on the ride to Batman's lair and the medical facility. Raven had been awake the entire time but her eyelids refused to open. She healed herself, but that didn't stop whoever it was bandaging her up.Once Raven thought she heard Robin calling her name, but she dug herself deeper into darkness, just to escape him.

At some point, Raven heard the gentle speech of Beast Boy, "Rae? Rae, can you hear me?"

Maybe if she kept still, he'd go away.

"Raven, I know you're awake," he said. "When you're asleep, your lower lip is pushed out and the dents in your cheek show."

Violet eyes met green eyes.

"I don't want to know how you know that."

She sat up in the white-sheeted cot as Beast Boy smiled fondly. There were too many overhead lights. Raven sank down on the bed and looked back at him. "Beast Boy?"

He sat down on the floor beside the cot and folded his arms. "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry for using you."

"Using me...?"

"You know, at the party." She mumbled something incoherent, then raised her voice, "... I ruined Robin's birthday party."

"All he cares about is that you're okay. Everyone's going to be happy to hear that you're awake. Now, was I hearing things or were you just _apologizing_ to _me_?"

"I played with your emotions," she explained. "I used you for my own petty reasons."

Raven lowered her eyes.

Suddenly, Beast Boy looked older. _So much older_.

His face gave the impression of being drawn out and tired.

He said faintly, " _Raven_ ," and looked at her face. She nodded and he took her hands. "I know oyu and everyone else think I can be... stupid or somethin'. But I know a lot more than you think. I'll admit it, I had a huge crush on you for a while. Even when you threatened me, I chased after you, but I could see that it couldn't work. But I want to be close to you, like a best friend, but you always push me away. That's all I ever wanted."

"If you tell anyone this, I'll destroy you..." she added, lips upturning. "...But I did feel like we were brother and sister. You were like the annoying little brother I never had."

Beast Boy grinned. "I always wanted to make you smile."

"Looks like you succeeded - Beast Boy?"

"Yeah?"

"How did I get into Batman's cave?"

The green boy laughed. "You'll never believe who is Batman-"

"- _Bruce Wayne_."

His eye twitched. "How did you-?"

"Just more observant than you. I didn't have my communicator, so how did you find me?"

"Cyborg's got us tracked down. Weird, isn't it? I told Robin you disappeared and we found you after a half an hour tops. You were in deep doo-doo when Slade appeared. I guess we didn't make it in time to help." Beast Boy looked forlornly at her bandaged wrist.

Raven said monotonously, never wavering, "I'm alive. That's a plus."

"Raven, why did you run out?"

She didn't answer him but stared straight ahead, looking past at him at the blank, white wall. He lowered his eyebrows frustrated. "Okay, that's two things you're keeping from me," Beast Boy muttered.

A beat passed and he was surprised to hear her say, "Tell the others when we get home that I'll need a bit of time to myself before I can talk. I have something to tell everyone."

*


	9. Chapter 9

*

Her bottom hurt when it landed on the hard rocks of Nevermore. Raven brushed off her white leotard without a complaint.

_'Note to self: Remember to visualize pillows.'_

She looked down the floating stone path to see her Emotions randomly jumping, sitting, and singing. Utter confusion and thrill... that's what the atmosphere felt like... but it didn't to seem to disturb her Emotions like it did her. She barged in on them and demanded, " _What_ was that? Why are you doing this to me? What have I ever done to you?"

Anger sneered from the corner, "Besides shun us?"

" _Go screw_ -"

Intelligence cleared her throat and inquired gently, touching the rim of her glasses, "Whatever do you mean, my dear Raven?"

"You know what I mean, _smart ass_."

Happiness giggled at the swear and Intelligence gave her an acknowledging smirk.

"I'm sure I would know if you wouldn't be so vague," she said calmly.

"Why are you all making me think about Robin more than I'm suppose to?" Raven yelled. "I _don_ ' _t_ like him."

Courage frowned, placing her hands on her hips.

"Why not? Don't be a chicken, he's a great guy."

Raven turned her, growling. "Not only does he belong to someone else AND we're teammates, it's _wrong_."

"Since when did he become a thing that someone could _own_?"

Raven clenched her teeth. "That's not what I meant and you know it," she said. "He's with Starfire, he loves her, and I'm not allowed to love... anyone."

"You love the Titans, don't you?"

"We're getting off this subject." Intelligence merely eyed her as Raven waved her hand.

The pink-cloaked Happiness pleaded sweetly, "But, Raven, Robin is so nice!"

"When he doesn't act like a jerk and know-it-all."

"That happens to teenage boys," Intelligence said, carefully. "I believe it's a smart match. He's quite wise and you may not see it now, but you two compliment each other nicely. Yes, he feels something for Starfire, but it could be a temporary feeling he has."

"Thanks for the lecture," Raven said with a biting tone.

"I am trying to explain something to you _if you will listen_. Starfire could not understand with the darkness that lurks beneath his surface. She needs someone who is similar to her, bright from the inside out. Robin isn't. He holds corrupt emotions without meaning to. When he is older, he would need some person to help him channel them."

Raven said nothing to this and her Emotions were animated from Intelligence making a speech and began to speak out.

"He's fearless and a great athlete."

"He can burp louder than Cy or Beast Boy..."

"He helps me when I'm sad."

"He's not so bad... I guess."

"He comforts me like an angel... he might be one..."

"He's sweet and handsome! I adore his smile!"

Raven glared to the silver-cloaked Emotion, muttering, "I'm sure _you_ have something to add."

Lust looked away moodily from her and Intelligence shook her head. "I'm starting to get a little worried. She's been quiet lately," she replied.

"You would too if you were irritated at her," Lust said, casting an evil eye at Raven who said exasperated: " _What is your problem_?"

"You are. You have this wonderful boy right under your nose and easily within your reaches... and you won't open up to him. Get this: he might _even_ like you back." Lust gathered her cloak up, sharply. "You know what, you are afraid to face the _truth_." She looked at Fear. "No offense."

Lust poked Raven in the ribs hard, causing her to wince. "You keep avoiding everything including the truth. You can't hide from it!"

Intelligence joined alongside her.

"Raven, I think your question has been answered. You are doing this to yourself." She and Lust advanced on her. Raven felt a cold and unsettling change in the atmosphere of Nevermore. "Do you want to know why?"

"No..." Raven backed away from her approaching Emotions who rose to their feet.

"You think about Robin-"

"Stop!" They towered menacingly over her. She started to run, but a hand yanked her backwards. Raven fell into many arms and grasping fingers, all holding her down.

"And you hurt-"

"I won't listen to you! Let me _go_!"

"Because-"

Lust was laughing madly. Raven tore herself away and clutched at her head as they clawed viciously at her cloak, "Please! Stop it! No!"

 _"You love him. You love Robin. You love him,"_ they chanted it over and over, screaming louder with every word.

"LEAVE! ME! ALONE!"

Her violet eyes flew open and Raven stood in the middle of her room, doubled over and near hysterics.

She waited motionless a few minutes to listen. No one came to bang on her door. They must be waiting for her. She had came back from Batman's lair and sought the peace of her room to meditate... and ended up on a field trip to Nevermore.

Raven sat on her bed, running her hands over her blue, downy blankets, and whispered her three favorite words.

" _Azarath…Metrion….."_

*

"Where is that girl?"

Cyborg gazed at the door leading into the main hallway of the front room.

Beast Boy nodded. "She'll be here," he insisted. "She said she would."

"When did you start sticking up for her?"

Beast Boy's green eyes narrowed. "When you stopped, I guess."

They stared heatedly at each other and Robin prepared to referee any fights between them. Cyborg saw their leader cross his arms. He made an annoyed noise with the back of his throat when a shadow appeared near the center stairs. Her face hidden by her white cloak so that only her bright, violet eyes shone out to them.

She made her way to the empty couch.

"I called you all down here for a reason, and it's one that I thought I would never bring myself to reveal." Her eyes locked onto Cyborg. "But elements out of my control have forced me to hide it no longer."

His eyebrow scrunched.

Raven seated herself on the floor in front of the television set and her friends squeezed themselves on the long couch. She didn't try to avoid their prying eyes.

"My mother was a living human named Arella and my father was a living demon named Trigon," she announced. "My people looked into my future when I was born and saw things too horrible to believe. My father is hell-bent on destroying and controlling everything."

She looked at her smooth white palms, indifferently.

"My guardians told me to always keep my emotions in check, always focus, always meditate. I came here to Earth when I was little and I never saw my mother again. I hardly even remember her."

Cyborg was the only one brave enough to speak, "What's your point?"

Her tone switched to dark and passionate, "I was born to destroy the world and everything in it. To become the portal to my demon father..." She let out a unsteady sigh and her head lolled back, eyelids fluttering close. She could hear her friends getting up and her monotone voice stopped them, _"They said the sun would set on this world never to rise again. The skies would turn blood red. Chaos would ensue. Flesh would turn to stone, and everyone that you loved would die. They would die and you would kill them._ "

Her head snapped back and Raven's eyes stared at the red tattoos now glowing on her palms.

"Now my father wants me to willingly give up everything and help him." She balled up her hands. "I don't want to. I don't want to kill everyone I love."

"That's my darkest secret. I love every one of you. I love Beast Boy's antics and his endless attempts to keep us happy even when he loses hope. I love Cyborg's strength to keep us together and even his obsessions. I love Starfire's undying friendship and I wish sometimes... that I could be more like her and I love Robin..."

Raven struggled against her pounding heart, not ready to look at the reactions on their faces.

"I love his bravery and the way he cares for us... I don't want you to hate me. That's why I don't say anything. That's why I never bothered. That's why I can't get close-"

She paused when Raven helped onto her feet. Starfire cried, gripping Raven's hands.

"I do not care what you are to do! You are my _friend_ and I would not wish any harm upon you!"

Raven felt herself being crushed against her and appreciated it. She deliberately wound her arms around Starfire and felt damp tears on her neck where the other girl pressed her face. Cyborg and Robin joined in the hug and Beast Boy morphed into a kitten, licking Raven's dry cheek soothingly. Her eyes met Robin's.

"We will always be your friends no matter what happens," he said pointedly. "You may not know it, but we care about you more than you'll ever know. And we'll find a way to help you fight Trigon."

His green, spandex glove touched the side of her face and she almost leaned into it before they all let her go. Cyborg messed her purple hair. "Yeah we will. He's going down," he said. Starfire sniffled in the background.

Raven levitated a handkerchief to her, avoiding her eyes.

Starfire hugged her again and the empath said, escaping her clutches, "Slade knows. He's working for Trigon."

"What did he say?" Robin frowned.

"That's the other thing. When I ran out of the party into Gotham, he scared a robber away from me and I tried to fight. There was only one thing that stopped Slade in his tracks."

Beast Boy shook his head. "I don't think I want to know."

She slid her hood back in place and whispered, "Slade never shot me. He can't hurt me unless he wants Trigon to serve his head on a platter."

Starfire seemed confused.

"If the Slade did not... the robber...?"

Raven stared blankly until the Tameranean let out a dramatic gasp and held onto Robin nearby. He silently laced his fingers through hers.

Violet eyes stared at their hands and her dull voice spoke up, "I was willing to die so that everything would be okay. But I can't stop it, and I know doing so would be the worst mistake I could make. Slade needs me alive to get my Father out, so knowing that could help us somehow, right?"

Cyborg nodded. "Sure, Rae."

It felt as if the entire universe had been lifted from her shoulders and the headache forever lingering had disappeared.

Drained, Raven felt herself lose the feeling of the floor beneath her feet. The only thing that keeping her up was Robin's strong arm gripping hers. She was being led away, voices blurred around her and then they were gone when her bedroom door shut behind her.

She had no idea how long she had been standing where she was but eventually her clock chimed midnight.

Raven unfastened her cloak, feeling very exposed without it, and made her way to her bed.

In half stride, a laugh pierced her hearing. She turned her head to the sound and reached into her dresser, picking up the flashlight Robin had given her. Her room normally pitched black at night and she had no trouble with it, but recently... she decided it needed to be _redecorated_. Light fell over the dark corners and the laugh sounded again with more energy. Shining her light on her bureau mirror, she let out an alarmed scream.

Faces, faces like hers twisted with mirth and howling. Her Emotions gawked and taunted her. She could hear them in her head.

Raven screamed again but this time, it was full of rage. She took up the mirror and smashed it against the wall. The shards glowed a blue color before the energy emerged from them and slipped into her throat. Raven grabbed at her neck and made distressed choking noises, her limbs twitching.

" _Raven!_ "

The Titans got inside in time to see her flashlight lying forgotten on the ground and her body on the floor. Her shoulders snapped back against the carpet.

" _GET OUT OF HERE_!"

Starfire stepped forward, reaching out a hand.

"Friend Raven... what is the matter...?"

" _OU_ -!"

Raven's breathing became shallow and her violet eyes looked up as Raven smiled widely. Everyone faltered, very unnerved to see her normally emotionless face so happy.

"... Star!" She leaped up from the floor to grab the alien tightly around the waist and squeezed once. "My best friend in the whole world! You look gorgeous! Ahha-" Happy Raven elbowed her out of the way. "Beast Boy! Looking good, ma man!" She gave him a peck on the cheek as their friends exchanged nervous looks.

Cyborg asked, "Um, Raven, what's going on?"

Suddenly, her eyes became moist.

" _Oh_..." She cried out, shrinking away. "..Please, I'm sorry, just leave." Sad Raven fell to her knees and wept with such grief that Starfire trembled and Robin felt the strong urge to touch the empath's shoulder.

"Raven...?... it's ok."

Sad to Courage. "Uh uh, you better get your hand off me or I will whoop your ass."

Courage to Smarts. "Starfire, my sweet child, orange and purple just don't mix well."

Smarts to Fear. "Stop looking at me! _Ahhh_!"

Fear to Vulgarity. "Cool, Beast Boy, there's a booger hanging out of your nose!"

Vulgarity to...

Abruptly, Raven's eyes glowed brighter than ever before with their color.

They flickered to Beast Boy who hid under her bed, Cyborg standing in front of a weakly eeping Star, and Robin just deeply confused. Lust Raven swept over to him and ran a finger coyly over his broad shoulder. "Nice cape, mind if I get under it?"

Under his mask, his eyes widened impossibly big.

Raven made a violent movement with her neck, and crouched down with her head between her knees, muttering, ". _..Get the mirror in the drawer...someone, please..._ "

"Um...?"

"Do it! _Now_!"

Robin sprang for the handheld mirror.

Her head jerked up, a twin set of red eyes burning on her face. A snake of black energy cuffed Robin across the head but he recovered from the blow, throwing the mirror at her. Raven caught it and held it in her hands securely, chanting nonstop. They all watched. They all waited.

She gasped as blue power came out of her mouth, and into the mirror.

A moment of silence passed.

"... Get out."

They obeyed without being told twice but Robin lingered at the doorway. "Are you okay?" he said after a moment.

"I lost control of my emotions and they got out. I'm fine now."

Perspiration made her hair stick together. Her chest heaved. She wrapped her arms around herself as if to hide a shamefully naked body.

"Please... just _go_."

Once he left, she collapsed unconscious onto her carpet.

*

Robin remembered.

He remembered a lot of things, big and insignificant, but there were moments in his life he could never forget. Tonight would be another mark to that list. He wandered into his room, sitting in his chair, not bothering to turn on anything but the lights. Robin tipped the chair back and sank deep into his thoughts.

Raven acted so weird lately. It all became clear why now, but she was still this mysterious person that he couldn't figure out.

It became clear to him a long time ago that he wanted to know everything about her, but Raven was always too far out of reach. When he first met her, she wasn't friendly by any means, but a strong fighter and even stronger willed. Now she was baring herself, under these conditions... he didn't know what would change.

He wanted so bad to _help_ her and he didn't know where to begin. He wished Raven would open up to him for once. Robin put a hand under his chin. He had gotten shivers when she touched him.

Had she... come onto him?

What emotions was she hiding from him?

And _why_ did he like it?

Another memory that would stick with him was the day Slade turned up... on Raven's birthday.

One moment he was running from death, the next he woke to find Raven smiling down on him, rubbing his chest gently. Even though she was smiling, her eyes read _terror_.

When he near beaten after battling Slade and heard her calling his name, it was the only time he heard her say it with such helplessness, such desperation. She had carried him to the church down the road and held him with concern. Raven had tried to _protect_ him. Then she was attacked.

He didn't know all the details but he had caught her from a death-fall of thirty feet, her uniform torn. He definitely had wanted to do more than _hurt_ Slade. Her hair had been down to her back, and she had blacked out in his arms. Raven had awake within a minute after he caught her and barely said a word to him. But she had been thankful for him. That was certain.

Robin slammed a fist into his palm, inattentively.

She happened to be an important memory indeed.

*

 


	10. Chapter 10

*

_There was a draft. Wherever she laid, it was slightly chilly. She shifted under the blankets. They weren't hers, these blankets were rougher. Something else wasn't quite right. Her eyes opened and she ran a hand over her thigh. Dear Azar, she was naked. Her cheeks flamed. The feeling of the prickly wool of the blankets against her nude skin, her breasts, and her legs felt bizarre. Somewhere else in unconscious reality, Raven moved in her sleep, safely away from this situation. She screamed to herself to wake up, to get herself out, but there was still that breeze. Why on Azarath was she naked in another bed?  
_

...

_He could faintly smell the odor of sweat clinging. Someone shifted beside him in his bed. He knew as soon as he came to that he was stripped of his costume. Strange thing was he never took it off except to shower... wait. Someone was in his bed?_

_..._

_The person beside her was shifting awake. What was she suppose to do, yank the blanket away and run? What if they were naked, too?_

_..._

_He could hear the springs of his mattress quiver as this mysterious guest began to cautiously sit up. An impulse coursed through him and in the dark, his hand touched the small one near his head. Lightly, he rubbed his thumb against the soft skin. Someone let out a little gasp as he pulled the hand closer and put firm lips to the palm. She was familiar to him._

_..._

_She felt the tickle of the faintest kisses on one of her hands. Like looking through mist, she saw a messy-haired boy. He let her go and she allowed him to touch the side of her face. A trickle of recognition played in her mind. She knew this boy... somehow she knew. He wasn't going to hurt her. It grew colder around her and she moved closer to him, her bare hip touching his. Her cheeks turning bright red again._

_..._

_This girl moved closer to him, and he draped an arm over her waist, expecting to be pushed away or something. Why did he...? She stiffened a little at the new touch but that was about it. Their noses tapped. She had been trying to examine him. His mouth instead met hers; every good judgment in his mind told him to back away. His tongue ran across her closed lips and she responded by slipping her tongue into his mouth. They were kissing like the very need was dire. Why was this moment so complete? Robin let out a groan in his sleep, but didn't wake. He didn't want to._

_..._

_She liked the taste of him. She liked this feeling of sexual dominance. He moved above her, the delicious weight of his muscular chest against her breasts. The kisses between them unrelenting and harsh. Her hips rocked. So did Raven's. Her soft sighs and whimpers echoed in the strange room._

_..._

_It was all a blur, but she was here with him. They coupled; their lovemaking increased the desire to feel her heart race against his own. Their flesh pressing against each other and into each other brought a terrible sense of fervent spiraling. He was near completion as was she. Robin groaned louder in his sleep, his sheets hanging off the edge of his bed._

_..._

_She felt his breath ghost her face and stared into his face. The haze lifting. A pair of bright blue eyes stared back amazed._

_..._

_Where was his mask? His gaze met violet._

_..._

_'Oh shi…'_

_..._

Raven woke violently on the floor of her bedroom. The last remnants of her orgasm thudding through her veins. Her window, covered by heavy curtains, exploded deafeningly. She shielded herself against the flying glass escaping the curtain shield. In a way, it's astonishing that it was the only thing that had been destroyed.

Footsteps running. Starfire's concerned voice under her door, "Should we see what has occurred?"

"Better not. She's probably in a bad mood," Beast Boy said.

The door remained untouched. Raven rolled over onto her stomach, getting fistfuls of her carpet and squeezing her eyes shut.

Voices drifted back from the kitchen. Her friends were arguing over breakfast. Raven looked up weakly at her clock. Eight o'clock in the morning. She got up to feel a little throb of soreness between her legs. There had to be a _logical_ explanation for everything. Her hands ran over her body; last night's leotard still on. That's a good sign.

Peeking out of her steel door, Raven tiptoed to the nearest bathroom, but Robin came running from the opposite direction. He bumped against her in his rush and their reddened faces could have fried an egg.

" _Er_ …"

Raven stood aside, choking out, "G-Go ahead."

He murmured his thanks quick because that's all she heard before the door slammed in her face.

She buried her face in her hands with no idea that her leader was in the same need of a cold shower. This wasn't going to be easy to explain to the others. Hopefully, she'd never have to. Raven climbed up the stairs to the other bathroom and showered as fast as she could, the cold and then lukewarm water helped her nerves and the discomfort disappeared afterwards.

Nothing else seemed abnormal… it must have been _just_ a dream.

She needed more mediation... that had to be the solution. Raven changed into a fresh outfit and let her tousled wet hair dry on its own. Mentally, she debated whether it was worth going to breakfast and her stomach won. To immediate relief, there was no sign of the Boy Wonder in the kitchen.

Cyborg made his presence known by shoving a plate right under her nose.

"Morning, Rae. Waffles with absolutely no tofu substitute?"

She took them without a word and brewed her tea, her long fingers rapping nervously over the ceramic tabletop. Starfire crowded into her personal space and she felt her usually emotionless aura give mild _go away_ vibes to her companion.

"Friend Raven, we heard something explode within your room and Friend Beast Boy did not want to enter unannounced. I wonder if you are in good health…?"

"Perfect. I'm tense."

Starfire nodded optimistically, her megawatt smile could have blown several fuses. "Have you seen Robin?"

Raven said, curtly, "No," and took her cup of herbal tea, sitting beside Beast Boy. He took a mouthful of his breakfast and instead of turning green with nausea, he paled, "I think... I just ate real bacon."

Cyborg grinned proudly, a ridiculous chef's hat tilted on his bald head. "Yep! 100 percent pig meat, carved out and roasted-"

The small boy clapped a hand over his puffed out face and she said dryly, "You puke on me and you'll be swallowing ivory china." Beast Boy gulped and sank to the floor. Raven continued slowly eating her waffles; Starfire occupied Beast Boy's seat and drank a large container of mustard in one sitting.

She beamed. "Yum, very appetizing! Robin, would you care for the mustard?"

"No thanks, Star. I'm good."

Raven turned around so fast that her half eaten breakfast slopped onto the ground, her plate falling with a _crash_ , and she tripped over a gagging Beast Boy, taking a good fall onto her waffles and the tile floor. She didn't even know when he came in. Cyborg picked her up under her armpits and helped wipe the syrup off her ruined, white cloak.

" _Whoa_ , what's your hurry?" he asked

Her face colored dark red, making Cyborg smile baffled.

"Uh…"

Starfire looked genuinely concerned at her flushed appearance. "Raven, are you ill? I could make you the traditional Tameranean dish of Health-"

"I'm fine. I need... I need to go."

With a hand covering her face, she raced out into the hallway with a follower.

"Robin, go back into the kitchen."

He smirked, amused. "Are you okay? I never saw you turn so red before."

She whirled around, eyes glaring.

"Go. Away."

Raven screwed up her eyes and his low voice reached her ears, "What _is_ going on with you, Raven? You seemed a little jumpy back there."

_'He knows.'_

"Have any interesting dreams, oh fearless leader?" Her violet eyes opened in time to see Robin lose his confident stance to discomfiture.

"Wh-" He cleared his throa., "What do you mean?" Uncomfortable silence passed before he admitted quietly, "I thought... I-it was just-"

"The release of my emotions last night and the pressure I haven't begun to deal with resulted in this 'telepathic' dream shared between us this morning. It's not a big deal. Because I think of you so highly and we do have a connection as you pointed out a while ago... we shared an _intimate_ dream. We don't need anyone to know about this."

"Yeah, Raven. Sure."

Beast Boy poked his head in.

"Will you two stop whatever you're doing long enough to help us clear up the mess Raven made?" Robin grabbed her shoulder when she moved forward to strangle the green changeling.

"What are you talking about, Beast Boy? It was just some waffles."

"I don't know what you two are up to but, Raven, you made the eggs blow up and Starfire's hair almost caught on fire by the stove." He eyed them both seriously, taking in the fact Raven's fists were glowing black and Robin's hand was still digging into her left shoulder. "You aren't fighting, are you?"

"Not unless you are looking for one to become involved in." With that threat still unanswered, she stormed off. Beast Boy frowned at Robin.

"... What did I say?"

Robin shook his head, muttering, "Give it a rest."

" _Pfft_. It's a good thing you're dating Starfire and not her."

Robin snapped his head in his direction, confused. " _Where_ did that come from?" Beast Boy held up his hands when the other boy flexed his right hand.

"Think about it, she never lets anyone get close enough to even-"

"Beast Boy," he interrupted, frowning. "Raven's dating status isn't any of your business."

"I'm her friend," Beasy Boy said, shrugging. "Man, I care for her and all, but sometimes she can be a real-"

He didn't finish his sentence. Robin elbowed him aside as he went back into the kitchen. Beast Boy looked after him, rubbing his arm.

_'What's his deal?'_

*


	11. Chapter 11

*

The season of autumn fell over Jump City.

Beast Boy ran around Titans Tower, looking for the perfect Halloween costume through the rubble that was his bedroom. Starfire decided to make some sort of celebratory fall pudding in the kitchen. Raven walked by the training room to see Robin and Cyborg sparring around mid-afternoon. Furious fists rushed everywhere. The punching bag flew off the hinges and headed straight for her. Her black energy stopped it inches from her face and Cyborg smiled embarrassed. "Sorry, little lady. I didn't see you there."

She never looked at Robin. "... It's fine."

"Did you want to spar with us?"

"I was passing by."

She left before Robin could say anything. Raven made her way into the kitchen for some tea where the Tameranean popped out of nowhere, squealing, "Friend Raven, would you like to try? It has the yams that are fried, peppers, vanilla iced cream, the sauce of tomatoes, and some delightful-"

Raven cut her short, turning her back to her, "No, thanks. I'm not that hungry."

The alien girl looked disappointed.

"Perhaps later then." She floated over to Beast Boy with his head was under the couch.

_'You think you're upset with me now, Starfire...'_

Raven picked up her horror book from the counter and sank into a particularly comfy cushion in the front room, her concentration fixing on the novel and nothing else. Raven was like this for a good fifteen minutes before a sudden presence bent over her shoulder and a voice asked rather loudly in her ear, "What'cha reading?"

She let out a very Starfire-like screech and fell out of her seat.

Beast Boy let out a laugh.

"Whoa, I scared Raven! Ha!" The remote control hit him in the head and he yelped, " _Hey!_ "

Starfire commented nearby, snacking on her confection, "You deserved the beating, Beast Boy." He made a face at her and extended a hand to the fallen Titan.

"Wanna hand up?"

"No," Raven muttered.

"I'm sorry, Rae, seriously. It's not my fault you're a scaredy-cat. By the way, can I borrow that book after you're done? I wanna get into the Halloween spirit."

She said monotonously, her eyes glowing white, "How about I just haunt you while you sleep? That should give you lots of scary thoughts." He raised his eyebrows at the obvious threat and her eyes returned to normal. Reluctantly, she took his hand.

Her hand froze up in his grip and her mouth gaped open. She stared sightlessly ahead. Beast Boy waved his free hand over her face.

"Earth to Raven? Yoo-hoo?" Suddenly, his face changed, too.

They were both staring at _something terrible_ that no one else could see. Starfire sensed something was amiss when they didn't respond to her calling for them and took off quickly to find the others. Raven awoke from her daze with a huge bodily shudder. She saw Beast Boy lying on the floor beside her with his eyes shut.

As the rest of the Titans burst in, she slapped his face lightly.

"Beast Boy, wake up."

He groaned and opened his green eyes to meet a tightened, sallow face above his.

"Raven…" he murmured. "What was that? Why did... I never wanted…"

"It's called a vision, and I'm sorry you had to see it."

Their friends silently observed as Beast Boy's shoulders began trembling and the normally reserved girl talked lowly, rubbing his shoulder awkwardly. Robin asked as soon as he got a chance to be alone with Raven, "So what happened?"

"I'm not sure..." She shook her head, asking more to herself, "When have I ever been?"

"You mentioned a vision?" he asked. "You both saw something?"

"Beast Boy saw what I knw. What I've always known. Destruction, death, fire, and blood. All of the things I was told..." She gave him a fleeting look. "It's coming soon."

"What is?"

Robin had to strain his ears to hear her answer, " _My destiny_."

*

_'How do I stop him? Can I even stop Trigon? Why can't I think clearly?'_

Plenty aggravated, Raven stormed up to the Titans Tower rooftop. She unintentionally destroyed an antenna nearby with her powers and sat on the edge of the roof, cross-legged and meditating.

' _Azarath….Metrion…..Zinthos… ...Robin…_ '

He was a few feet away, watching her hovering mid-air.

She lost concentration and fell out of sight. Raven heard him yell her name as he raced over, preparing to throw himself off the building to save her. Surrounded by black energy, Raven appeared in front of him and said bleakly, "Is this important? I already have a lot on my mind."

He skidded to a halt and put away his Bird-a-Rang, still unnerved. "I-I was just seeing how you were. Was I, uh, interrupting something?"

"You were," she said nonchalantly, tightening her grip on her white cloak as a high wind picked up. It ruffled Robin's already unkempt hair. He went back to the rooftop entrance.

"Okay. Sorry about that."

Raven raised her dropped gaze, her voice carrying through the fall wind.

" _Wait_ …" He had a foot in the doorway when he heard her say once again, this time louder, "Robin, please wait."

Raven seemed out of place in the scene he surveyed, her form against the golden sunrise, a cheery blue opposing her solemn lavender, her skin glowing healthily when the light hit her cheek. Raven tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"In order for me to be at my best against Trigon and Slade, I must have a clear mind and conscience," she explained. "There are thoughts I need to get rid of."

Robin returned to her side, giving her his complete attention. "Like what?"

"I've been confused for a long time and I've had countless battles within myself to try to figure this out. I've been afraid of the truth..."

"I'm not following you," he admitted.

Raven's face remained blank but her eyes were sending out all kinds of messages to him. Instead, she looked out to the ocean blinding in the sunlight.

"I don't know how, and I don't care anymore how, but I like you. I like you more than a teammate and a friend. There is some dark and human quality in you that draws me. You have shown to be my greatest source of strength and the only one here who understands me. You don't think my... _freakiness_ is bad and I know what struggle is like for you." She allowed herself to stare at his mask for a second. "I mean no ill will to Starfire... but I don't think she would be able to understand what I do about you."

Robin didn't move and she wasn't about to invade his brain to find out what he was thinking.

But his aura pulsed heavily. Nearly suffocating.

Raven faced him, sounding truly upset and befuddled, "Just tell me... why did you kiss me that night? What did you see in me that you _liked_?"

His face was emotionless as hers. "Kissing another girl that isn't your girlfriend is poor judgment," Robin said.

"I'm already loving how this is going..." Raven's sarcasm didn't seem shake him and he sighed, letting his gloved hands rest on her shoulders.

"But Starfire's not. Not really. You're a wonderful person, Raven. Everything you told me is what I've always thought... but to act out on those feelings seemed..."

" _Forbidden_ ," she finished quietly, avoiding his eyes.

Robin inclined his head. "You may be part demon, but I've seen good and beauty in you. More than once, you've proven to everyone that you are capable of becoming someone important and reliable. You may _have_ the power to become evil and destroy the world... but you've said yourself that that's not what you _wanted_. You made your _own_ choice, and the things I've seen in you... I know I've liked. A lot."

Her cheeks burned brighter.

"…I'm not entirely sure if this is just a..."

Robin's face broke into an smile.

"I think there's only one way to try and settle this."

Raven glanced at his lips before submitting herself to the thought. She was surprised to find Robin kissing her back with the same desire. They broke away for a long moment, gasping for robbed breath. Raven stepped away from Robin's grasp on her shoulders, silently willing the heat on her face to go away. But what made her smile back was to see the same color glowing on his features.

He rubbed his neck, slowly. " _Um_ , yeah. I think that probably speaks for itself."

"What about Starfire? I don't-"

"This will have to wait until we stop Trigon." Robin gestured to the door. "Do you want to come back inside? It's getting cold."

Raven walked past him with a fainter smile, nudging his side, surprising him.

"Sure, Boy Wonder."

He chuckled, shutting the door behind him.

A few hours later, Cyborg came up to see recreation chairs and the tower's roofing obliterated.

*

 


	12. Chapter 12

*

On one early afternoon, Raven awoke to hear a low grumble of laughter ricochet throughout her room. It burned and pressed against her eardrums, jeering her endlessly.

 _"The time has come, Raven…"_ Slade's voice joined with the mingled cackling.

She crept into the front room to see the rest of the Titans up and staring at the large windows. Swirls of crimson red blotted out the blue, blue sky and the sun shone faintly like a dying candle. Starfire shrunk away from the terrible scene, her usually joyful face now somber.

"I do not like this, Robin," she whispered, folding her arms around herself.

His mask narrowed. "We know who we're up against. Just be prepared to fight."

Raven came from behind them and her body suddenly began to glow red with symbols, the mark of Scath on her forehead burning for all to see. She pulled her cloak tighter around herself but Robin tugged the hood down, gazing at the markings as the rest of her team did. She murmured, "He's coming. There's no stopping him."

"We can and we will."

The alert sirens went off and Slade's position in Jump City locked on the main console monitor.

"Titans GO!" Robin roared to everyone.

*

Raven flew apart from her teammates as they raced through the city. Her fear beginning to vibrate through her body.

What was she suppose to _do_? Stop herself from becoming the portal? How does one go about doing something like that?

She was contemplating the possibility when a fireball about the size of a truck rained down upon her head. Raven encased it with her energy and threw it aside, the ends of her hair alight. She slapped out the hot strands and looked up at the water tower to see Slade above stalking her.

"Leave my friends alone or I'll deal with you myself!" Raven shouted as she threw metal sewage pipes at him.

He dodged them and stated calmly as she floated in front of him, "They have their own battles to fight."

With one hand, Slade gestured to the farthest street. Craggy demons threw flames and the Titans fought with bravely against the horde. She watched on as Starfire threw her star bolts viciously as Beast Boy charged at the demons in rhino form.

Steel fingers clutched her shoulders and she cried out alarmed when flashes of lava rivers and her friend's stone bodies invaded her mind.

Weakly, she fell on all fours, hanging her head.

"You will destroy this world, Raven. You will become the portal as you were destined to be." She closed her violet eyes tightly as Slade bent down and tucked a strand of her hair out of her face. "Those people down there... they are not your friends. You know better than that. They fear you."

"... _No_."

"Even Robin does not love you. But you love him, don't you?"

Her head snapped up.

"Shut up."

His tone became harsher.

"You wish that you were the one who holds his heart so dear. But he loves someone else, doesn't he? That will always be the case for you, Raven. When he leaves you for her, what will you do? Lock yourself in the dark and pray for an end to come quickly? Why let him _deceive_ you before it's too late-?"

"-I said _SHUT UP_!"

Her eyes flashed blood red as she threw him off the tower, Slade's body twisting into a bone-crunching heap at the bottom. He pulled himself together within seconds.

Raven did not care. Something powerful was _taking_ her.

Her body soared upwards into the red, red sky. Her screams the only noise to be heard within the cryptic sounds of fire and combat. Her powers were out of control. Chaos consumed everything within a five-mile radius, winds picked up, and the ground turned to ash and molten rock. Her markings burned brighter than anything.

Twin sets of blazing eyes appeared on her face.

Below, the Titans looked on shocked and unsure of how to help her. A new mass of fire demons approaching only a half a mile away. Robin glanced at his friends, his jaw clenched. "We don't stop until this is over," he ordered. Their faces tightened with acknowledgment and the next battle set in motion.

High above, Raven's body convulsed with the power inside her.

Slade screamed from the ground, "Rise, Master, Rise!" The heaviest skyscraper crumbled, crushing him with tons of metal. Her many eyes tore away from the rubble.

" _I am coming, Daughter_."

An agony beyond anything she ever experienced claimed her entirely and a monstrous roar erupted from her throat. From the black energy coming out of her mouth, it formed a spinning hole. Something giant emerging. The demons felt this utter sense of evil and fled, leaving the Titans to stand below in confusion and horror.

The vertex widened. A large claw tinged with red knocked several structures out of the way and killed the remaining fire demons running. Raven was in daze.

Pain was the only thing she felt.

' _No... I refuse to die like this... Damn the prophecy_!'

She summoned every fiber in her being, every last breath, and gave her father what he deserved. Her power struck into Trigon who was barely a foot out of the breach. It blocked the entrance. He broke through it like wet paper.

" _No_! I am not a monster! I will stop you!" she screamed piercingly.

The world seemed to hold its breath when Raven vanished into the gap. Robin must have wanted to go after her because Cyborg held back his struggling body.

"We have to stop her!"

His metal half of his face reflected scarlet as Cyborg answered him, "No, man. She's gone." Before Robin could protest, another high-pitched scream surrounded them along with a black energy force. It knocked them off their feet and brought many remaining buildings shaking to their foundations.

In a wink, _gone_.

The blue sky were richly colored with the setting of the evening sun and clouds; the fire, the destruction, it was gone. _Everything_ … was silent.

A mouse Beast Boy came out from hiding under Robin's cape and morphed back, gaping.

"... _Dude_ , what just happened?"

Raven floated in the distance, a strange, blue glow around her. Her eyes shined with the same color before returning to their normal hue. A shadow over her screeched and disappeared into the clouds. She wavered, her cloak fluttering like a tattered flag, and suddenly plunged lifelessly through the air.

Robin pointed to her, shouting at the top of his lungs, " _STARFIRE_!"

She didn't hesitate to go after Raven. Starfire flew back to them, her orange arms cradling her female friend and her lips quivered.

"... Should she not be breathing? I cannot feel her breathing."

*

Spinning, spinning into darkness, but she had won.

Trigon's life slipped into the deeper depths of the Forgotten Lands and she fell into comfortable shadows.

' _Not a monster… About the whole kissing thing… it never happened… why did you run out… we will always be your friends no matter what happens… I'm not an idiot, Raven; I can take off my own mask… even Robin does not love you… Robin… Robin, I'm sorry_ …'

Her head bounced against hard ground. Raven opened her eyes, to see the familiar shapes of white and gray doves feeding. With a hand to her head, she sat up.

_'Am I dead? Why am I not dead?'_

A soft accent made her head turn, "You did it, Raven." A white-robed woman smiled proudly as Raven stood up unsteadily, shaking her head.

"How?" Raven asked. "I was suppose to help him...?"

"The prophecy was true to its word from the very beginning. But it never said you couldn't fight back if you were truly willing to save your world and sacrifice yourself for it. You discovered that power inside of you to defeat Trigon. Now, he is gone and we can embrace a new beginning."

Raven looked up to see her homeland no longer in ruins, but slowly being rebuilt. The soft purple and oranges of the sky above her head, no longer ominous.

"It will take time to recover but your people thank you."

Arella threw an arm up, encircling it to her daughter hugging herself against her.

" _Mother_... I don't know how I can..."

"Come, we must discuss more and you must rest."

With that being said, Arella placed a gentle hand on her shoulders, and led her into the gates of Azarath.

*

 


	13. Chapter 13

*

Somewhere between the haze of time, they felt as if there wasn't anything. They weren't even living. The person who felt this first was currently beating the hell out of stuffed leather. Robin rocked the punching bag off its handles but he couldn't shake off a feeling that was slowly creeping up on him. His breathing sped up and his adrenaline rose.

"Robin?"

He moved faster, not letting a minute pass where his fist wasn't connected to the creaking bag.

"Dude?"

"Rob?"

One of his knuckles made a loud cracking sound but Robin knew no pain. He wheezed for breath and didn't move any slower than before.

Someone touched his shoulders.

"Robin, _please_."

With one last strike, the punching bag went flying to collide into the wall.

He bent over with his hands on his knees, his chest heaving. Cyborg and Beast Boy stared at him from outside the training room. They left when they saw the anger etched on his face. Starfire kept her hands clamped on Robin's shoulders and something resembling a sob escaped from his throat.

Robin wasn't aware of the dripping on his face. Something that wasn't just sweat.

The alien girl pleaded, "I do not know how to make you better."

"You _can't_." He gasped out and his back became rod straight. Robin drew away from her. "Star, I can't... this isn't..."

"Please. Talk to me. Even though you and I are no longer 'together'... we are still friends, yes?"

He stared into her emerald green eyes, finding every trace of truth and distress shining in them. After his talk with Raven, Starfire revealed her suspicions about where his heart laid. They fought, not with fists, but with words. They both knew there were some things that were too different.

**…..**

_-flashback-_

****…..** **

"Hey, HEY! Star, let me go!"

The Tamaranean had a strong lock on his arm. She pulled him right out of his video game match with Cyborg. The mechanical man gazed after them and then his concentration went right back to the game. They passed Beast Boy who wiggled his eyebrows at them suspiciously, before Robin was suddenly thrown into her bedroom.

He rubbed his backside aggravated as Starfire gave him an unfamiliar, calculating look from the door's entrance.

"Star, would you mind telling me why I'm here?"

She crossed her arms in a defensive position. "I have noticed something has changed. Between us. You are not as 'affectionate' as you were. I fear that something has prevented your growth to me."

He came back just as defensive. "What are you trying to say? You drag me in here to accuse me of _cheating_ on you? Where did you come up with this?"

"I did not say you were cheating."

"You didn't have to."

Her luminous eyes filled up with tears. "Who has taken your heart away?" Starfire accused. "I can see that you are no longer-"

Robin snapped, pushing past her, "This is ridiculous, just-"

"- _WHO IS SHE_?" She yelled, blasting a starbolt at the wall, leaving a rather large smoking hole. " _I WILL_ -!" He took her wrist evenly.

"Star, stop it. It wasn't Raven's fault that this happened."

The alien's eyes stopped glowing. "Raven? Friend Raven?" she asked, breathy and shocked.

He scold himself mentally.

_'Damn. Way to go, Boy Wonder.'_

"Starfire, the only person you should be mad at is me," Robin confessed. "I was the one who brought her into this mess. I was the one who kissed her first. Don't punish Raven for my mistake."

A miserable whisper, "We… we must do the breaking up now. Correct?" Robin felt a pang of grief seize his heart.

"Yeah. _Yeah_. I'm sorry I hurt you. We aren't…"

She finished, "Right for each other. As I am for being a friend that is a girl to you."

"You can still be my friend," he said, softly. "You always will be."

Starfire shook her head. "I do not know if I wish to be that. This... feels very strange."

****…..** **

_-end flashback-_

****…..** **

That ended it.

They eventually started talking again, but the differences began to show more clearly among them now that reality set over.

_"No offense to Starfire, but I don't think she would be able to understand what I do about you."_

She had been right. God... he couldn't think about Raven right now.

Robin nodded his head.

"Yes, you are close to me, Star. I just can't believe-"

Starfire's eyes watered.

"The world is saved. It is what she wanted."

He swallowed, putting a hand to his forehead feebly. His face contorting. "This just isn't real..." The workout did a number on him. He was dehydrated and Starfire caught him as he slumped forward. That feeling apprehended him. A real but weak sob seized him while she helped Robin get back into his room.

It was _guilt._

*

Titans Tower had never been so quiet before with the exception of Terra's death. The Game Station hadn't been touched, the training room's doors were locked, dishes were not cleaned. No one looked like they had a decent night's sleep in months, though realistically it was only a week.

Beast Boy, in the form of a green sheltie, whimpered on the kitchen floor with his head on his paws. Starfire sat on the floor beside him and stroked his fur . "I know how you feel," she said in a whisper. There were no tears in her eyes. She used them all up. Beast Boy whined again and set his head on her purple boot.

Robin stood by the couch, clutching the back of the seat rigidly. They couldn't tell what was going on through their leader's head.

Cyborg entered through the double doors. "I'm sick of this!" He began angrily, "How long are we suppose to keep pretending that-"

Robin said warningly, " _Don't_."

He glared at him.

"I mean it, we can't just leave Raven's body in that room forever. She's not in a trance; she can't be woken up. There's no pulse. She's not breathing. There's no point!"

Starfire yelled, covering her ears, " _Stop_ please! I do not wish to know this! She cannot leave us when we are her friends!"

They expected Robin to bust in with a hopeful statement or argument against Cyborg, but he said nothing. And that is what scared them the most. Robin's knuckles turning white and his face pinching, he turned away to stare at the floor.

Suddenly, Beast Boy began barking excitably. Cyborg growled, " _Shut up,_ man!"

"Cyborg, your shouting could wake the dead."

Fatigued violet eyes glanced at each tired face.

"Whose funeral did I miss...?"

The green sheltie got to her first and tackled her onto her back, his fluffy tail wagging frantically. Raven pushed the slobbering Beast Boy off her.

"Down, boy."

Starfire started bawling, and flew straight into her. "Raven, we had thought you had passed on without saying goodbye! Thank the Terrgkuhas you are safe!"

The empath muttered with her face crushed against the Tamaranean's breasts, "Missed you too. Can't breathe."

She was beginning to lose consciousness until Cyborg got her loose. He sniffed her and waved his hand in his face, "Whooo, you need a shower, Dark Girl!" She gave him a deadpan look before it melted in a faint smirk. He asked faintly, "What's been going on?"

Raven went down the stairs.

"I've got more to tell you, I first need-" She didn't get to finish.

Robin grabbed her around the waist and swung her around in a circle, bear-hugging her. Her pale face glowed a bright pink.

"Um... hi."

To make matters worse, Beast Boy turned back human, and shouted teasingly across the room, "Do you two need a moment?" Her eyes narrowed into slits. Beast Boy expected something painful to happen to him. Nothing was glowing black or exploding. Only an expression of smoking coming out of her ears.

He laughed uneasily. " _Uh_ , sorry?"

"That's one of the things I have to tell you," she explained. "I've been in Azarath. When I killed my Father, my soul-self went to my homeland."

Cyborg exclaimed, "That's why your body hasn't responded to anything." She nodded and finally realized the lovely weight of Robin's arms still holding her.

With Starfire watching curiously, so she said monotonously, "Robin, do you mind?" His brows scrunched and then, he jolted away from her as if he had been electrocuted. Raven went to the countertop and seated herself on the edge. "After Trigon died, my demon side vanished... powers included."

"You mean...?" Beast Boy's eyes widened.

"I'm not a Teen Titan anymore."

Starfire looked at her sympathetically and Robin insisted, "Raven, you'll always be one."

"But I can't help you against the bad guys. I'm useless."

"No, it can't be true," Starfire protested, meekly.

**…..**

_-flashback-_

****…..** **

"Arella, what do you mean they're gone?"

The violet-haired empath stared disbelievingly across the room.

"Your powers that Trigon had given you, you can no longer use," Arella said calmly.

"... No. Mother, my powers are a part of me. For Azar's sake... without them, I'm not even Raven."

Her hands began to shake and it felt as if all the oxygen had been sucked out of her lungs. The soft tone of her mother couldn't help her panicking heart.

"You always had powers. They are hidden deep inside of you. Remember, magic is many elements. Not just words, not just books, and not just power. You need to discover _your_ magic _."_

Raven shook her head, eyes going wide. "What do I have to do… I'll do anything. Anything you ask of me!"

"They will return to you in time, Raven. If you allow me to move on..." Arella ran her white fingers over the open textbook in front of her and Raven bowed her head, murmuring an apology.

"You are forgiven," the other woman answered, putting on an serious air. "Your emotions will not trouble you if you control them as if a human would."

"Do I have to stop meditating?"

"Of course not, you may continue meditation if you desire. As a matter of fact, I would encourage it."

Raven stared out the window, forlornly. "Mother... What am I supposed to tell my friends...?"

**…..**

_-end flashback-_

****…..** **

What she did tell them was how Azarath slowly became lively again, about the new teachings; and to her relief, there were no interruptions. Until the sirens came on. Raven had said enough and stared at the giant console screen. At first thinking she was hallucinating.

"Someone tell me... _that_ isn't Slade's signal."

Robin said cryptically, slamming a fist into his palm, "He didn't die in battle. We've been trying to track him ever since. Apparently, he got whatever he wanted before Trigon died."

Beast Boy flinched when he heard a loud thump and glass shatter on the floor. Slender, grayish hands curled into fists and Raven did a good impression of Robin when he was angry. The Boy Wonder himself might have been unnerved respectively to see what his own anger looked like.

Slowly, she knelt down and began picking up the pieces.

"Titans, move out!"

They took off and he hesitated on the staircase out.

"What are you going to do?"

Raven threw the glass into the trash can. "I'll keep backup and stay here when you call back."

Robin nodded curtly and didn't waste any time to leap into action.

She waited for his yellow cape to disappear behind the sliding doors and murmured, closing the trash lid, " _I missed you, too_."

*

 


	14. Chapter 14

*

"Cyborg, do you got his coordinates?"

The metal man said as they sped down the street, "Yeah, man. Up near the docks."

Robin said into his communicator, "You guys following?" Beast Boy and Starfire appeared in the frame, giving their thumbs up. He said calmly, "Pick up speed."

"You got it," Cyborg replied, punching the gas. The T-Car sped up to 90 miles and skidded to a halt at the hideout.

Robin said to the rest of the Titans as they landed and entered the dark building, "Be prepared, we don't know what exactly he's up to or if this could be a trap. Just be alert for anything."

"Very smart, Robin." The returned villain looked down at them from a tall platform. "I don't see Raven. Pity. I would have liked to have seen her again."

Robin glared at him, clutching his fists.

"We aren't going to let you have that chance again. _Titans Go_!"

They split up, charging at him. Beast Boy turned into T-Rex, snapping his monstrous jaws but instead of grabbing Slade, he got a mouthful of metal and piping.

Starfire roared, eyes glowing green as she threw her starbolts in Slade's direction. He disappeared from her line-of-vision then reappeared behind her, hurling her onto the ground from the platform. Her impact made a hole in the earth and Slade dragged her half-conscious form out of the crater, getting ripped and scratched on the floor. With a grunt, he tossed her several times against the wall.

Cyborg and Robin came after him. Slade threw her body at them and they paused, staring horrified at the damage he had done to her. Cy shouted as his sonic cannon fired dangerously at him, "Man, your ass is so grass!"

"I'm terrified," Slade said unhurriedly.

The two Titans glanced at each other and Robin extracted two of his Explosive Bombs as Cyborg threw a Sonic Blast at the villain. Together they created a force so powerful it knocked out the wall behind Slade. When the smoke vanished, he was nowhere to be seen.

A high-pitched squeal from the other side of the building sent them running, only to find Beast Boy unconscious and hurt under a flickering overhead light. Slade's laugh surrounded them, echoing through the empty walls and Cyborg said harshly, "I'll go this way - you go the other and try to contact Raven." They ran in opposite directions and Robin debated silently whether to bring the empath into this or not. He never got to decide at that moment when he heard the sounds of Cyborg battling something.

Robin spun right around, Bo-Staff in hand as he crashed into a different room. Cyborg was down.

A shadow was running down a flight of stairs and Robin had an important decision to make.

*

They never should have left Raven bored and alone with caffeine. Especially with free-range emotion.

Coffee beans were scattered on the floor and five porcelain cups laid drained on the counter. Beast Boy's music had been raided through and cranked-up British rock pounded through the Tower. The seemingly quiet girl sang along with the lyrics, into the end of the extra remote control.

After the third chorus, the giant screen began flashing red. Her hyper-rush left her deadened when Slade's face appeared - soon replaced by an image of Cyborg missing a body part. By the time she turned off the music, it was gone.

Robin's voice called her name from her Titans communicator.

She yanked the sparkly kitty barrettes out of her hair. "Robin, I hear you - what's going on out there?"

"I'm not going to lie... it's bad... we're getting our asses handed to us."

Raven said promptly, "What can I do?" Bleak silence followed before a tormented cry blared through the connection. "Robin? Robin, answer me! Robin!"

She tried the others but the communicators all mysteriously disengaged. A few trickles of cold sweat ran down her back, and she punched a few codes, locking Slade's location. Raven found her white cloak under a sleeping Silkie and clasped it on before heading to the main elevator to garage. T-Car was gone... Beast Boy and Starfire didn't drive... she couldn't fly...

' _What do I do? How am I supposed_ -'

She bumped up against something and she caught the R-Cycle before it could fall to the ground.

... No choice at this point.

Raven got on, surprised on how it felt to be on Robin's motorcycle, her thighs against the smooth metal. She kind of had a secret desire to try once. _Only once_. No more than this. Her hands hesitated over the shifts, and she revved it up, feeling the engine trembled beneath her.

Clutching the handles, Raven felt the wind whipping her face as it sped quickly into Jump City.

' _Way too fast... way too fast_!'

Against her better judgment, she squeezed her eyes closed for a minute and dodged the insane traffic and obstacles. By the time she appeared downtown, her hair was messy and she shook fiercely. Raven parked the stand, leaning over the seat, nauseated. She managed to keep her stomach down long enough found the hole in the side of the small building. Like any other warehouse in an abandoned area, it was dark and had a creepy aura to it.

Something red caught the corner of her eye as Raven crossed a large, smoking crater in the ground. A few feet away from it was an lifeless, bleeding Starfire.

Raven dropped a knee, examining the gashes disfiguring her face, and lovingly smoothed back her tangled hair.

"How sweet."

She turned in the direction of the cruel voice, placing a hand over Star's forehead, protectively. "Show yourself, damn you."

Slade appeared before her eyes. "As you wish," he said, S mark long gone.

"What do you want from us? Where are the rest of my friends?" Raven stood up, blocking Starfire.

Slade chuckled.

"You will find their bodies scattered within the building, not that you'll be alive long enough to search."

She snarled, "You got what you wanted from Trigon!"

"Not quite."

He grabbed her by the neck and threw her up against the wall.

"But enough talk."

Her vision spun as her head hit the cement and his strong hand crushed her airway. Raven strangled out, " _Robin..._ "

"Robin cannot save you. You cannot even save yourself, not without your powers." Slade's mask was only a few centimeters away from hers. She could almost feel the heat from his breath through those slits. " _Forget about fighting - it won't save you_."

Something about this didn't feel right...

She seized the arm that choked her with both hands and managed to tear herself away. She crouched in the shadows, rubbing her throat.

"You aren't even trying."

"You'll find out my plan, Raven; you're a smart girl." A powerful fist crashed into her jaw and she was sent sprawled out on her back, stars dancing in her eyes. "Once I kill you, your friends will awake to find your body parts dangling in front of their faces, and they will die with that image in their horror-filled minds. I think I'll leave Robin your head."

Slade stood over her and she kneed him in the crouch, causing him to double over.

Raven round-house kicked him, remembering the move from sparring practice. It was effective enough to render him momentarily speechless.

_'He's going to kill me... I 'm going to die and...'_

Something switched on in her head.

A cold sensation ballooning in her chest.

And she let out a gasp.

Raven placed a hand over her heart, and with the other covered her face. He shook off the pain and lunged at her. Suddenly, blue energy swallowed him whole, and Slade stood frozen in a running position. Her purple eyes changed to the same hue of the blue energy.

"AZARATH METRION **_ZINTHOS_**!"

Slade screamed once before the force field smashed him flat.

*

 


	15. Chapter 15

*

The vehicles got home in good condition, Cyborg's leg repaired, and Starfire's was healed. Once Raven came out of a grim trance, she floated the Titan's bodies back to the Tower, placing them into the safety of their own rooms. Slade's body handed over to the police... whether this was his end remained unanswered, at least to her.

She left Beast Boy's room after mending his arms that were broken in three places (how she found the energy to do all of this...) and finally rested against the large bay window in the front room. The moonlight on the sea too beautiful to watch with a numbed vision.

Raven pressed her forehead against the cool glass and would have fell asleep there if the doors nearby hadn't opened with a loud _swoosh_. She didn't bother to move any part of her except her left hand gently touching the person standing close by. " _Mmm..._ " she observed, "cape... mask... I'm sure I know this person..."

His low laugh sweet, _sweet_ music to her ears tonight.

Robin sat down and rubbed her exposed shoulder, thinking that she needed comfort. "Rumor is that you got your powers back?"

"For the moment," she replied.

"How?"

"I _felt_ something. Something changed. Before I knew it, Slade was crushed. I think I've got my powers for good this time."

Robin asked, "Why aren't you asleep?"

"I should be." Raven peeled her face off from the glass, looking at him with slight concern. "Are you alright?"

"I can take a hit, or several in this case," he joked, flashing a smirk. She began giggling, then covered it up with a loud cough.

"... I think I'm sleep-deprived."

Robin shrugged. "It's nice to hear you laugh. Like in Gotham."

"I never said sorry-"

"You don't have to be, Raven." His tone slightly icy.

The empath winced at it. He said softly, trying to mask his slip up, "I talked to Star."

"About what?"

"I broke it off."

Her mouth dropped open. "... You can't," she said. "I didn't want to hurt Starfire-"

Robin cut her off, "You have no say in this. You really don't. We both decided that maybe it was time to reconsider everything. I'll always love Starfire at the bottom of my heart and she's one of my best friends... but she needs someone else. And so do I."

She flushed painfully dark.

"A boy she loved broke up with her for her best friend," Raven insisted. "Starfire will hate me."

He said exasperated, "Raven, she doesn't hate you. I _know_ she doesn't."

"But she won't forgive me..."

Robin blinked and then smiled unexpectedly.

"I like the outfit."

He had noticed when the light hit her that she was wearing one of Starfire's shirts and his green leotard bottoms. The result of her temporary sanity loss earlier. Her face became so heated that he could nearly feel it. " _Um..."_ She cleared her throat nervously. "I think you and I have a similar built."

"It suits you."

He smirked at her obvious embarrassment, but she didn't cover herself with her cloak that was within easy reach.

"So, _Dick_ , what are we suppose to do about us?"

"... huh?"

"That's your name, isn't it? I heard Bruce Wayne say it, everyone did... I guess I'm the only one who wants to use it."

His face turned serious as he took her by the shoulders. "I'm _Robin_. That's what Bruce calls me, people who knew me in the past called me that."

Raven said understandingly, "Fine, I won't call you Dick," she added furtively. "But you'll change your mind."

With a swift hand, she undid his mask. He closed his eyes immediately to that. Raven would catch him with them open one day. She was confident. Gently and tentatively, Raven leaned forward to kissed his eyelids before slipping his mask back into place. It gave her an expression that he was shocked to the core.

That's when hot breath tickled her ear.

" _I'm looking forward to our future_."

Raven felt the sensation of his warm mouth pressed against hers. And just like that, it was gone.

*


End file.
